Before I had kids, I loved using Silk Original Vanilla soy beverage in my coffee and cereal instead of milk. But since it was slightly sweetened, it wasn’t the best choice for cooking savoury dishes and keeping two different products in the refrigerator just didn’t make sense to me. Silk beverages have expanded their line a lot since then and so when I was given the opportunity to create some tasty recipes using Silk products and vegetables that flower, I couldn’t wait to see what I could whip up. The low calories, calcium and essential vitamins in Silk products are such a great addition to a healthy lifestyle and I was already beaming at the prospect of adding them to my diet again.

As a huge fan of the cruciferous vegetables, I decided that I wanted to create a recipe featuring broccoli. There’s nothing I love more than a delicious bowl of soup and cream soups are my absolute favourite. But they do tend to be heavy on fat and calories, and what if you’re vegan, lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy? This delicious Cream of Broccoli soup is the perfect solution! Using Silk Original Almond beverage and fresh vegetables, it has a rich, creamy flavour as well as calcium and Vitamin D for extra nutrition.

Friday, May 16, was the third annual Food Revolution Day, an occasion created by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to help teach children about the joy and importance of cooking with real, wholesome ingredients. This year, Sobeys teamed up with Jamie Oliver to host the country’s biggest potluck, the Potluck Challenge, through the Better Food for All website and I was so excited to be a part of it!

The mission was simple. Host a potluck for Food Revolution Day, Tweet and Instagram pictures from the event using the hashtags #PotluckChallenge and #FRD2014 and for each hashtag mention, Sobeys would donate $1 to Children’s Aid Foundation’s Cooking Toward Independence project. This initiative teaches children in the child welfare system how to cook so that when they reach adulthood, they have the skills they need to prepare nutritious meals for themselves. I’ve always taken for granted the cooking skills I learned from my mother when I was younger but since learning about this program, I’m so grateful that I had her in my life. Thanks to Sobeys and Food Revolution Day, now other children will have a chance to develop the same essential skills!

I shared a few tips for hosting a potluck a few weeks ago, and I took advantage of every one of them when Food Revolution Day arrived and it was time for my own potluck. I decided on an outdoor barbeque potluck, so as host I provided burgers and fixings while guests brought salads and desserts. But I couldn’t resist also whipping up one of my favourite potluck recipes, Broccoli Salad! [Read more…]